1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to reproduction of a preferred color, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method of reproducing a preferred color in which the distribution of colors in an input image is analyzed, a color space domain to be processed is determined, and a color in the determined domain to be processed is converted into another color, which may be a preferred color.
2. Description of the Related Art
Developments in imaging technology have enabled display devices to emphasize certain colors of an input image or to convert certain colors of the input image into colors preferred by a user. A related color conversion method will hereinafter be briefly described with reference to FIG. 1. As shown, when an input image is provided to a display device, the display device analyzes a distribution of colors in the input image. The results of the analysis may be represented using YCbCr color space coordinates, as shown in FIG. 1.
Hereinafter, it is assumed that the display device already has information regarding the graph illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 1 illustrates domain A (120) and domain B (130), which are domains in the YCbCr color space. If the results of the analysis performed by the display device indicate that a color of an arbitrary pixel of the input image belongs to domain A (120) or domain B (130), the color of the arbitrary pixel is converted into a predefined color (i.e., a preferred color).
Conventionally, colors in only one domain in a color space are converted into preferred colors. However, if a color space comprises more than one domain, (e.g., domain A (120) and domain B (130)) as illustrated in FIG. 1, the colors of pixels belonging to domain A (120) are converted, and then the colors of pixels belonging to domain B (130) are also converted.
Referring to FIG. 1, it is readily seen that domain A (120) and domain B (130) partially overlap each other by way of an overlapping area 140. In this case, if the colors of pixels belonging to domains A (120) and B (130) are converted, then the colors of pixels in the overlapping area 140 are converted at least twice to thereby be converted into colors not intended by a user, and to cause distortion of an output image or deterioration of the quality of the output image.
Therefore, it is necessary to develop techniques that enable converting of colors in one or more conversion domains in a color space subjected to color conversion (e.g., domain A (120) and domain B (130) illustrated in FIG. 1) into preferred colors, which will be to the satisfaction of a user, and to prevent distortion of an output image or deterioration of the quality of the output image, even when the conversion domains overlap each other.